The Perfect Experiment Why the Difference Conference

1
The Perfect ExperimentWhy the Difference?
Conference

• by Chris Broni
• Science Specialist
• Covington Elementary School
• cbroni_at_sacs.k12.in.us

2
Introduction

• For many elementary teachers, the idea of
  turning students loose to create their own
  experiments sounds like a complete nightmare. By
  the end of this session, you should have a few
  strategies to guide your students in the
  scientific method to the point they can
  effectively, create their own experiments.

3
The Goals of Science Education

• Encourage childrens curiosity
• Develop logic and critical thinking skills
• Give opportunity for children to share their
  discoveries with others
• Personal pride in work well done

4
Sounds great! But . . .

• How do we find an experiment? While it is
  tempting to find a book or website that lists
  projects, this isnt the best source. The best
  science comes from the students own questions.
  Become a good listener. The idea is to make a
  discovery. The problem with books and websites
  is that they often give the answer. If a
  resource is used, try making a change so that the
  experiments result is a surprise.
• Can I really be a scientist? Students at CES
  have a great deal of experience being scientists.
  Look at old science papers to see how an
  experiment works. Then, encourage students to
  explore.

5
Getting started isnt hard!(Question)

• Pay attention to things that happen around the
  house or at school.
• Look for things that make you wonder.
• Anytime you can ask the question Why? you are
  on your way to a great project.
• Beginning with known scientific ideas can lead to
  discovery.

6
Now you are ready to plan!(Materials and
Procedure)

• Think about what you could do to test your
  question.
• Write your steps in order. Dont skip anything!
• Decide what supplies you will need.
• Set a schedule to help you use your time wisely.

7
The Hypothesis

• Once you create a question to answer and decide
  how to test it, make a prediction about what will
  happen in your experiment.
• Write the prediction before beginning the
  experiment.
• The important part about keeping track of what
  you think is that you can look back later and see
  how much you learned!

8
Grade Level Expectations
9
Time to do the experiment!

• Be sure to have a control group and groups that
  test variables.
• Watch all parts of your experiments carefully.
  One of the best parts about research is the
  surprise!

10
Keeping track!

• As you perform your experiment it is important to
  keep track of what happens.
• You can take or draw pictures to include in your
  final project.
• Keep measurements like times, sizes or weights on
  charts or graphs.
• Write notes about interesting things that happen.

11
What did you discover?

• The conclusion is the thinking part of this
  project.
• Compare your hypothesis to what you NOW know!
• Explain what you learned by doing your experiment.

12
What to Include on the Display(All this sounds
like science fair doesnt it?)

• Title The question makes an excellent title
• Hypothesis What was predicted?
• Materials List the supplies used
• Procedure Write step by step instructions for
  the experiment
• Data Notes, graphs, charts, tables or pictures
  can be included to show what happened during the
  experiment.
• Conclusion What did the experiment show? What
  was learned by doing the experiment?

Sample student created board (Fifth grade team
project)